Did bar patron get a kick out of the show? Customer files suit against U.S. 1 tavern

February 14, 1992|By Jackie Powder | Jackie Powder,Staff Writer

At Good Guys Bar and Grill in North Laurel, patrons come to see bikini-clad dancers whirl around brass poles to rock music.

One customer really got a kick out of the place.

Robert G. Smith and his buddies visited the club in the 9900 block of U.S. 1 in October. Mr. Smith of Maryland City claims that a dancer kicked him in the right side of the head with her high-heeled dancing shoe.

Mr. Smith went to the bathroom and passed out. Bouncers at Good Guys mistook Mr. Smith's injuries for drunkenness, dragged him from the club and deposited him outside in the street, Mr. Smith says.

Charging the nightspot with negligence, Mr. Smith has filed a lawsuit in Howard County Circuit Court, asking Good Guys for $200,000 in damages.

The lawsuit alleges that the dancer's kick caused Mr. Smith to suffer serious and permanent injuries to his head, face, neck, body and limbs.

"We went there to have a couple of drinks, and we sat down on the dance floor," Mr. Smith says. "One of the dancers swung around and kicked me in the head and knocked me out."

The dancer kept right on dancing, Mr. Smith says.

Mr. Smith said he regained consciousness in the parking lot. His friend called an ambulance that took him to Greater Laurel Beltsville Hospital, where he was treated for the head injury. He suffered a concussion, bleeding from the head and knee in

juries. Mr. Smith, who installs floors, said the injuries forced him to miss a few weeks of work.

Mr. Smith's friend, Lawrence Taylor, who was with him at Good Guys, says he was surprised others in the audience weren't injured by the dancer's energetic routine.

Good Guys owner Ben Zangenah wasn't aware of the suit. He said if a customer had been kicked, he would have heard about it.

"To me this is just harassment more than anything else," Mr. Zangenah said. "If something had happened to somebody, we would know about it, and nobody knows anything about this incident."